morgan Mitchell a professional athlete - the Olympic kind. The 28-yearold has represented Australia in sprinting at two Games Rio 2016 in the 400m and, more recently, in the 800m at Tokyo 2020. Which, of course, was technically 2021. But more than the pandemic, the Tokyo Games will be remembered as the year athletes' mental health came under the spotlight.
For Morgan, it was something she'd dealt with back in 2016 already after the Rio Games. "We call it the postOlympics crash' where you don't really know what to do with yourself because you've had the highest of all highs and then life immediately returns to normal," she says. "I struggled with that for a long time leading into 2017."
What's more, her success came with pressure - commentators comparing her to other track legends; a nation placing their hopes on her young shoulders. And it took its toll. Although few would have guessed that Morgan's experience on the track was fuelled by negativity and personal suffering. "I feel like I can kind of speak my truth a little bit more now without feeling the need to please people," says Morgan, relaxing into a smile. "I felt so much pressure to always perform. I felt so much pressure to be a certain person."
And so, Morgan did something few could've anticipated - she stepped away from the track. She spent three months in Europe with friends, enjoying a life free of routine and regimented training and during that time, she realised that the thing she was good at was still the thing she most wanted to do. She just had to reclaim running for herself, to get back to the childlike enthusiasm she'd felt when she was first starting out. She also branched out to try new things, shifting her focus from the 400m to the 800m and becoming an F45 ambassador.
F Is For...
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November - December 2022 من Women's Health South Africa.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November - December 2022 من Women's Health South Africa.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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